


There Once was a Dolphin

by beanko



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 12:14:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2732084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beanko/pseuds/beanko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ren and Ran beg Makoto for a bedtime story.  Makoto decides tell them about a dolphin and an orca in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Once was a Dolphin

"I don't want to go to bed!"

"Yeah, me neither!"

The shrill whines echoed throughout the house as Makoto lead each twin by the hand to their bedroom. 

"You don't have to go to bed early, it's not fair!" Ren cried.

"I don't have to go to bed early because I'm much older than you. You need sleep, so you can grow big and strong." Makoto lifted each twin into their beds and tucked the soft sheets around them. 

"Ok, Ren, Ran, good night, I love y-"

"Wait! You have to tell us a bedtime story before you go!" Ran cried.

"Yeah! A bedtime story!" Ren yelled, with enough volume to make Makoto wince. 

He smiled and pulled a small chair from the corner of the room, seating himself down just in front of the both of them. 

"A bedtime story, huh?"

They watched him with wide, eager eyes. 

Makoto tapped his chin in thought. "Okay... I'm not good with stories..."

His brain's gears began to turn. What could he tell them? There were fairy tales everyone knew by heart, like Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs. But Makoto wanted to tell his small siblings something original, something that only they could treasure as a childhood memory.

Makoto had to hurry. He wanted to see off Haru, who was patiently waiting in the next room for him to put Ren and Ran to bed.

Somewhere along the churning gears of his brain, Haru's name began to toss itself within. Haru... water... dolphins...

On impulse, Makoto's mouth fell open. "There once was a dolphin..."

....................

Haru sat alone, fiddling with his thumbs and occasionally flicking at dust on the ground. Makoto had asked him to wait for him to put the twins to bed, and then he could see Haru off.

Haru didn't need to be seen off, but he did enjoy the company.

He traced his fingers along the familiar worn floors.

He knew Makoto's house more than he knew his own. The path was etched into his brain, as was the image of Makoto waiting at the bottom of the staircase with his ever-present smile.

Haru knew it would be a while, because he had heard Ren scream for a bedtime story.

Well, he had time to pass.

He sat up and crept out of the room and down the hall until he was right outside the twins' open door. Haru could hear everything from this vantage point.

He heard Makoto's voice say, "There once was a dolphin... named Iwa."

A dolphin named Iwa. This was a new tale. Not the ones you found in storybooks.

"Iwa was a very smart, very good-looking dolphin. Everyone loved Iwa dearly. Iwa's favorite thing to do was swim."

Now wait a minute.

.............................

"Of course Iwa loves to swim- Iwa's a dolphin, all they DO is swim!" Ran exclaimed. 

"Hmm, I suppose you're right. But you can do something every day and still love it. Like how you eat every day; but you still love eating, right?" Makoto hummed.

"Well, I guess so..."

"Continue already!" Ren yelled.

"Now, Ren, calm down. Where was I? Ok, Iwa was very talented and loved swimming. One day, Iwa spotted a beautiful piece of coral."

"Iwa thought, 'I must have that coral!' At the same time, an orca-"

"What's an orca?" Ren asked.

"A killer whale, stupid." Ran replied.

"Ran, you don't call each other stupid. But yes, Ren, an orca is a killer whale. At the same time, an orca saw the coral and thought 'What a pretty piece of coral! I'll take it!' "

"Thus led to the fateful meeting of the dolphin, Iwa, and the orca, Tobi. Tobi almost bumped right into Iwa. When Tobi did so, he saw what might've been the most beautiful thing he ever saw in his young orca life. And it wasn't the coral. It was Iwa. Tobi immediately let Iwa have the coral."

"As time went on, Iwa and Tobi became very close. They swam everywhere together and were practically inseparable. One day, Tobi realized that he was hopelessly, desperately in love with Iwa. But that was fine. Iwa most likely didn't feel the same way, but they were still the best of friends. And Tobi was happy like that."

.......................

Haru placed a hand over his mouth. 

Hopelessly,

Desperately,

In love.

He was sure he had heard that right.

The orca was desperately in love with the dolphin.

Haru felt strange, like something was hopping around in his stomach.

He felt... confused.

There was nothing he could do but keep listening.

..............................

"This story's boooo-ring." Ren groaned.

Makoto reached out and ruffled Ren's hair. "Hold on, it'll get better."

"As time went on, Iwa and Tobi made more friends. There was an angry shark, a peppy penguin, and on the surface they occasionally chatted with a kind butterfly."

"What Iwa didn't tell his friends was that there was a-"

"Wait a minute... His?" Ran's eyes grew wide. "Tobi's a boy and he's in love with another boy?"

Well, that was a slip. "Yep, boys can feel love towards boys just like other boys feel love towards girls." Makoto explained.

"I didn't know that," Ren gasped. "Can girls fall in love with other girls too?"

"Of course! And there's nothing wrong with it." 

"Wow, that's cool..." Ran whispered.

Makoto laughed. "It is, isn't it? Ok, what Iwa didn't tell any of his friends was that there was a monster following him around. A big, scary, bug-eyed monster with claws. Only Iwa could see it, but he didn't tell anyone about it."

"Oh no!" Ren squeaked. "Why didn't he?

"Iwa didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to bother anyone, and he felt like he was fine. But he wasn't. He really wasn't fine. And for some time, no one knew."

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Makoto could feel his hands starting to sweat and fidget.

"Eventually, the monster started pulling on Iwa's tail and body. Still, no one could see it but Iwa. Iwa struggled to swim normally as the monster yanked and tugged on him. His friends began to notice how his swimming was strangely off. Iwa refused to tell them anything."

.......................................

Haru took a deep breath. Out of all the stories in the world, Makoto tells this. Makoto does this. 

Like either of them needed to remember that.

............................

"Iwa-kun, no, you have to tell someone or the monster will eat you!" Ran squealed. 

"The shark confronted Iwa. Iwa became angry, because he thought he was fine. The shark didn't think so. Iwa still didn't tell him, and instead yelled at him. Everyone was surprised, and decided not to try to confront Iwa after that."

"However, the monster kept pulling at Iwa and trying to drag him under. Iwa struggled even more to swim, which is what he loved the most. Tobi knew somethimg was wrong, and he was so worried. Finally, Tobi confronted him. Iwa got very, very angry, because he felt betrayed by Tobi because Tobi didn't believe in him, and Tobi was supposed to be his best friend."

"Oh no, poor Iwa and Tobi," moaned Ren.

"It was Tobi and Iwa's first big fight and everyone was shocked. On that day, Tobi and Iwa both went home feeling terrible. Tobi cried very much that night."

"Finally, all of his friends saw the monster. They all saw its ugliness and how scary it was. They wanted to help Iwa, but they didn't know how. The way the monster had him, the only person who could free Iwa was Iwa himself."

"How are they gonna help Iwa?!" Ran gripped the bed sheets. 

"The shark decided to do the next best thing. He went over to Iwa and began to shout words of encouragement. Tobi and the others thought this was a wonderful idea. They also went over to Iwa and began to yell all kinds of supportive things. They told Iwa how he was an amazing swimmer, how he was strong and could beat that monster. With his friends' help, Iwa broke free of the monster and it fell back down to the ocean floor.

"YAY!" Ren and Ran cheered. 

Makoto couldn't help but grin widely. "Free of the monster, Iwa lived out the rest of his dolphin days with his friends, and they all lived happily ever after. The end."

Makoto got up and pressed a kiss to each twin's forehead. "Goodnight. Don't let the bedbugs bite-"

"WAIT!" Ran yelled. "What about Tobi? Isn't he in love with Iwa? So what happens to him? Does he confess his feelings or somethin'?"

"Yeah, he has to tell Iwa, right?" Ren protested. 

Makoto was at a loss. "Well... How do you think it should end?"

"I know!" Ran volunteered. "Tobi uses his other friends to make a heart shape and Tobi swims through and proposes to Iwa!"

Makoto laughed. "That's how it ends, then. Perfect. Goodnight, you two."

He slipped through the door and shut it. 

"Makoto."

Makoto jumped ten feet into the air and whipped around. The culprit was, of course, Haru. "H-Haru! Don't scare me like that! Sorry it's late, let's go, I'll-"

"I liked your story."

Makoto froze. Haru had the barest hint of a smile on his face. 

"I-I didn't- you heard that? You weren't supposed to- I'm- I'm sorry, I was just thinking about you and the story just spilled out- not that I think about you a lot or anything, or-"

He recognized that he was blabbering, and he couldn't stop. 

Then, he fell dead silent when Haru leaned forward and rested his head on his chest. 

Makoto's mouth just moved futilely, with no noise, strangely resembling a fish out of water. 

"The orca... that fell hopelessly, desperately in love with the dolphin. I liked that."

Haru's words were slightly muffled against Makoto's shirt. They went directly through the thin fabric, sending vibrations right to Makoto's bones.

Makoto's heart thudded, quick and heavy, hammering against his ribcage. He felt like someone had spun him around just enough to turn his brain to mush. 

The sensation only intensified when Haru reached down and took his hands. He intertwined their fingers and gave a gentle squeeze. Haru's hands were warm. Very warm. Warm enough to send little sparks of heat up Makoto's arms, all through his body. 

Haru moved his head, and looked up at him. 

Those eyes... The blue eyes, that were the color of deep ocean, that seemed to have sparkling waves within them. 

They were still the most beautiful thing Makoto had ever seen.

All kinds of thoughts were running throught Makoto's head, blending and spinning, but they were just background noise. There was only one prominent thought. 

On what felt like pure instinct, Makoto leaned down and pressed his lips to Haru's. It was slow, and gentle, and it felt a little messy. Their mouths moved against each other's, hesitantly at first, and then carefully, and then passionately. It sent an electric shock through Makoto, making his whole body tingle. It felt so perfect, so overwhelming, that he worried that his knees would give out.

When they pulled away, they were both breathing hard and their faces were flushed. Haru squeezed his hands harder than ever and buried his face in Makoto's chest.

Still, only one thought ran through Makoto's head.

"I love you."

The thought spilled out of his mouth hurriedly. 

Haru intook a sharp breath. Makoto couldn't see his face. 

Fear began to arise. "...Haru? Are-Are you okay? Did I make a mistake? I'm- I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"...You idiot."

Makoto's heart began to sink. His throat began to tighten. "H-Haru, I'm sorry, I-"

Haru looked up, and his eyes were filled with tears. "Do you have any idea how long I was waiting for that?"

Makoto paused. Then he began to laugh tearily, clutching Haru's hands and hiccuping occasionally. Haru laughed breathily in between muffled, shuddering sobs as he leaned against Makoto. 

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting," Makoto said softly. He felt like his face was going to split from smiling too much. He pressed a gentle kiss to Haru's head. 

"You should be." Haru murmured in reply. 

"...Should I go see you off, then?"

"Can I spend the night here?" Haru mumbled.

"Of course."

They fell asleep with Makoto holding Haru close, and Haru pressed against him. Their bodies fit perfectly. 

That night, Haru had a wonderful dream, a tale of friendship and romance.

It began like this:

"There once was a dolphin..."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
